Machine to Machine (M2M) communications, also termed “machine type communications” (MTC), is emerging as a dynamic technology, which enables the “Internet of things” that can exchange information without human interaction. In some cases MTC communication entails wireless information exchange between a subscriber station (MTC device) and a server in the core network of an operator, with the aid of a base station in the radio access network of the operator. Another example involves the wireless exchange of information between two different subscriber stations linked to a base station. In each of these MTC communications, no human interaction need take place.
MTC devices also typically differ from traditional mobile station (MS) (also termed User Equipment (UE) devices) that require human-to-human communication in that groups of MTC devices may have a larger geographic spread of devices that are attached to a single subscription. In one example, smart metering devices attached to a utility company that constitutes an MTC Subscriber can be operationally dispersed nationwide or even internationally. This geographical dispersion differs from conventional arrangements for human-operated devices in which multiple UEs associated with a mobile subscriber may be operational proximate a subscriber's location, which may be geographically limited. Hence operational locations of MTC devices may be independent of the MTC subscriber location, which is generally very different from UEs, which typically operate in the same area as a given subscriber.
The need for MTC devices to potentially operate at locations remote to a geographic location of the MTC subscriber places special requirements on the network architecture for deploying MTC devices. For example, an MTC device that is not deployed proximate the location of the MTC subscriber for the MTC device may require a different home public land mobile network (HPLMN) than the HPLMN associated with the MTC subscriber. Providing roaming operation for MTC devices is one method to address this requirement. The MTC subscriber thus may have to ensure that a roaming arrangement is available at the location in which a given (remote) MTC device is to operate. Given a large number of MTC devices that the MTC subscriber may employ, and a large number of different geographically dispersed locations in which the MTC devices may operate, an MTC subscriber may need to establish a large number of roaming arrangements before the time of deployment of the MTC devices at the different locations. Moreover, since the roaming arrangements are based on traffic commitment, the establishing and maintaining of such multiple MTC roaming agreements may be exceedingly complex.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present improvements have been needed.